Scientists show that vCJD can be transmitted through blood transfusion

Scientists have warned that variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), could be transmitted through whole blood transfusions by donors who have no symptoms of the disease.

The warning follows new research with animals showing that BSE could be passed from a diseased sheep to a healthy animal.

But the UK Department of Health and the National Blood Service of England and north Wales said there was no evidence that vCJD had ever been transmitted to humans through blood transfusions. They said the risk was theoretical as whole blood was no longer used for transfusions in the United Kingdom, the white cells being removed by a process called leucodepletion.